


I Know You

by wirewrappedlily



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Zelena takes Hook's heart, because we all know it belongs to Emma, the last episode was kind of a throwaway in this, tw: attempted suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 23:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1405807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wirewrappedlily/pseuds/wirewrappedlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In order to protect Emma and her family, Killian finds out he's willing to do more to stop Zelena than anyone thought he was capable of. And with his heart stolen, and the damned Witch after Henry's mind, he's not about to pull punches.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Firsts are always my worsts, darlings, so please bear with me. 
> 
> In this one, Gold's mind isn't the one Zelena needs; Henry's is. So it's kind of canon-compliant up to that point.

Charming's courage had been taken, and it was causing no end of tension among them. 

Killian was trying to escape the headache-inducing argument raging between the King, the Queen, and their daughter about how best to deal with the void of not knowing precisely whom to trust when the door swung very forcefully open and Emma strode into the hall, colour burning in her cheeks and a bright fire in her eyes. "Swan?" 

"I need a drink." Emma ordered, "You're the only one in this town I feel like drinking with." 

Killian trailed her, surprised but not unwilling. 

"Sorry about that." She said over her shoulder, "I'm not entirely sure having fairytale characters in charge of their own damn safety is really the best idea at this point." 

Killian reached out, catching her shoulder. "Your mother and father will be fine, Emma." He told her. "That they trust too easily is a pleasant counterpoint to you not trusting at all." 

Emma scowled at him, and moved to keep walking, "Jolly or Granny's?" 

Killian's breath almost caught; his throat almost closed, but he plastered on a smile, and shoved down the pirate in him that was telling him to admit just where his old girl had gone, "Granny's. Ruby would go get more rum if we run through their supply." 

Emma raised an eyebrow and smirked, "I like the way you think." 

Killian swallowed down the twinge of _just tell her, why aren't you telling her?_ , the promise that when he won her heart, it wouldn't be down to a trick ringing in his ears. Admittedly, telling the woman he'd given up his most prized possession for that he'd done that and more to get her back wasn't a trick--but it didn't feel like the right thing to do, either; Killian Jones winning out over Captain Hook. Emma had the weight of the world on her shoulders even while they walked down the stairs, and Killian had a twist of instinct that Emma would not drink as she claimed she would; she wouldn't leave the myriad of responsibilities hanging around her neck unchecked for so long as to loosen like that. 

It was for that that Hook ordered a drink he'd been taught in Navy; coffee heavy in cream, sugar, and rum, that could warm an Abominable Snowman from tips to toes. It was the right mix for her; giving her a dull glow, but letting her keep her head, steady the walls she guarded so viciously. "Not what I was expecting when you said 'I'll get you something special'." 

Killian nodded, "In Neverland...there wasn't a town riding on your enticing shoulders. Here, you have more responsibilities, it seems, than there are stars in a sky. And as much as you want to toss them aside...for now, at least...you would come to regret that if anything were to happen and you weren't prepared at the drop of the hat to be the Saviour." 

Emma regarded him silently for a long moment, and then sipped the drink, her cheeks coloring, "It's good. I don't take my coffee sweet..." 

"In the other world, we don't use coffee normally, but this world feels for coffee as the part of my world did for tea, so it'll do." He took his own drag, and didn't wince only because he'd been trying for weeks to accustom himself to the bitter, awful drink. Even with the sugar and rum, it wasn't quite palatable, but he reckoned it was getting there. Slowly. Emma's lips quirked, her eyes more fond than he had any right to, and she knocked her shoulder against his, grinning. "You are not that much of a lightweight, princess--what's on your mind?" 

"I just feel...even with all the stress, and the witch, I feel...light." She whispered. "I wasn't sure...whether Henry and I should stay--a part of me still isn't. But...being back here, having my memories, it feels like I could make this my home." 

Killian was studying her, the uneasy furrow of her brow, the fear hidden in her happy eyes, "If I can make a suggestion? Without being shot, if you please?" She frowned deeply, but cocked an eyebrow in curiosity, "When your heart tells you to stay here, or to leave...don't fight it. I came to get you because I needed you, because your friends and family needed you...but when your heart tells you to follow a path; follow it. Because that's how you end up in the most dizzyingly beautiful of places." 

"I need to think of Henry--" 

"And while you think of Henry, know that he does not want his mother unhappy. Not in any way." Killian told her earnestly, hearing the tinkle of the door chime. 

The boy in question came bounding in with Regina on his heels, and Emma turned, beaming, to ruffle his hair, avoiding a hug so that he didn't accuse her of embarrassing him. Regina looked between Emma and Killian, and Emma met her gaze, "Please tell me he wasn't a terrorist?" 

"He was not," Regina assured her, "we even had fun." 

Killian didn't turn to watch the happy family as Henry exploded into a story of what he'd been up to in the hours that he and his mother had been apart. Regina caught his eye over Emma's blonde head, and Killian nodded to her solemnly, wishing not for the first time that he could take Emma and Henry away from everything that held her down. "...And Belle found the most amazing book for me!" Henry brandished said book over-enthusiastically, and both Killian and Emma's hands snapped out, Killian catching the book but Emma catching his arm, her flinch of surprise bringing her eyes up to his for a warm moment. "Whoa!" 

"Should be more careful with books, mate." Killian nodded to him, grinning, "Best weapons in the world, books..." 

He swallowed the last of the laced coffee, and nodded to Ruby as he stood, a hand on Emma's shoulder, "Where--?" She started, looking up at him. 

"I'd best be going. You've got a book to read with the young lad, and I need to speak with Regina." He murmured, then turned a smirk to Henry, "Never warned me she was such a handful." 

"And you do only have the one." Emma muttered, a plead in her eyes for him to stay being summarily ignored. 

Regina made her goodbyes and followed him onto the street, standing tall and proud beside him, "Finding the crocodile isn't going to go well with you on the hunt, Hook." 

He half-turned, "Who do you suggest to watch Emma's back? Belle?" 

"She's a grown woman--she's saved the town, without your help, I might add. Just what, exactly, do you intend on protecting her from?" 

"You forget: the crocodile knows I'm hunting him for a reason, Regina. If he gets his hands on Emma--" 

"He won't be able to." Regina assured him coldly, then scoffed, "She's more than even he can manage." 

"Don't underestimate him, Regina." 

"Then don't underestimate me, Hook. Or Emma." 

Killian sighed, turning away and shaking his head at the hard-headed women he seemed to have gotten himself plagued with. "I don't underestimate her. I simply need to know that she will be safe." Regina was already gone when Killian turned back, and he resisted the urge to go back into the diner and join the happy family inside; after all, he had no where left to go. 

A beautiful, wide-eyed redhead was standing behind him when he swept to walk the opposite direction. "Hello," She greeted, her smile dazzling. "I'm Zelena, I'm Mary Margaret and David's midwife." She introduced herself, all soft voice and gentle handshake. "Did I see you with Emma earlier? Their daughter?" 

"Yes..." Killian had a curl of unease about him, still protective of the blonde in the diner. 

"I've been wanting to meet her! Would you...what would you say concerning that." 

"I wouldn't suggest it just now," Killian replied, catching on about what she was really asking. 

"You know her well, don't you?" She sighed, taking a step closer to him. Killian nearly took a step back, but his pride wouldn't have it: and his pride is what damned him. The Wicked Witch placed a hand over his heart, her nails like talons as she reached through his chest. "Such a strong heart. So hard to corrupt; but you let it breathe with _her_ , don't you? Even just thinking about her...so vulnerable...so ripe for the taking..." She purred, and Killian wanted to scream; to give Emma a warning--in any way he could. "You'll do what I tell you now." She told him simply, extracting his heart from his chest. "I'll keep this safe...but you're going to have to do something for me, Hook," she smiled, and he wished that the people of Storybrooke didn't go out of their way to ignore him, or someone might see, "the boy...Henry. The brains of the operation. His mind will be mine, Hook, and you're going to help me get it from him." 

She went up on tiptoes, his heart disappearing into her bag, and she kissed his cheek, her eyes bright as she watched Emma falter on her way to the door over his shoulder, seeing Killian being smooched by another woman. Killian growled at her, but she simply gave him a little finger wave, stepping past him into the diner. Killian forced himself to breathe, turning to see Emma's features only to be hit with the vision of what Emma would look like if he let anything befall Henry. She'd closed down to him, just a little; less open and at ease than she had been before. 

"You know her?" 

"Zelena." He replied, the words choking out of him. "She's your parents' midwife." 

"Oh." He could read it all; the flash of unease, almost jealousy--the quiet sad of an orphan who's found out they were abandoned for another, supposedly-better family. Killian thought back; Charming's unwillingness to go meet the very woman who'd taken his courage when he was with his firstborn. David loved her. More than there were words for. "So, how do you know her well enough for...?" 

Killian felt the smile stretch across his face like he'd been cracked to the point where it would be better to shatter, and his body shrugged without his consent. Zelena didn't want him to say something; he wouldn't be able to say it. 

'I have my mind,' he told himself, 'if I have my mind...I can warn her.' 

"Are you alright, Killian?" Something in his chest tugged hard at her concern. "You look paler than usual--How does a pirate stay pale, anyway?" 

Killian grunted, his smirk playing on his lips, "I don't tan, Swan: I burn." 

She raised her brows, resting a hand unsurely on his arm, "You okay, though?" 

"Fine." He replied shortly, "I should be going." 

"He's a pirate?" Henry asked, looking confused.

"I give a tour of the docks for children," Killian lied smoothly, "don't you think this makes me look wickedly nautical?" 

Henry looked him up and down and snorted, but he was amused, and it played on his face. "We'll have to drop by and see the ship sometime soon." Emma offered to Henry, and Killian felt a hole open in his stomach. 

"She's...uh. She's not here, Swan. Restoration, you know..." He nodded more to himself at having come up with that than at Swan for her understanding, and he smiled at Henry, "But maybe another time." 

He excused himself before Emma could stop him in front of the lad, trying not to actively flee. 

If there was one thing that he knew would protect the boy; it would be his death.


End file.
